Isaiah 23
23
God’s Message to Lebanon
1This is a message about Tyre:
You trading ships, cry!
The houses and harbor of Tyre are destroyed.
This news came to the ships
from the land of Cyprus.
2Be silent, you who live on the island of Tyre;
you merchants of Sidon, be silent.
Sailors have made you rich.
3They traveled the sea to bring grain from Egypt;
the sailors of Tyre brought grain from the Nile Valley
and sold it to other nations.
4Sidon, be ashamed.
Strong city of the sea, be ashamed, because the sea says:
“I have not felt the pain of giving birth;
I have not reared young men or women.”
5Egypt will hear the news about Tyre,
and it will make Egypt hurt with sorrow.
6You ships should return to Tarshish.
You people living near the sea should be sad.
7Look at your once happy city!
Look at your old, old city!
People from that city have traveled
far away to live.
8Who planned Tyre’s destruction?
Tyre made others rich.
Its merchants were treated like princes,
and its traders were greatly respected.
9It was the Lord All-Powerful who planned this.
He decided to make these proud people unimportant;
he decided to disgrace those who were greatly respected.
10Go through your land, people of Tarshish,
like the Nile goes through Egypt.
There is no harbor for you now!
11The Lord has stretched his hand over the sea
and made its kingdoms tremble.
He commands that Canaan’s
strong, walled cities be destroyed.
12He said, “Sidon, you will not rejoice any longer,
because you are destroyed.
Even if you cross the sea to Cyprus,
you will not find a place to rest.”
13Look at the land of the Babylonians;
it is not a country now.
Assyria has made it a place for wild animals.
Assyria built towers to attack it;
the soldiers took all the treasures from its cities,
and they turned it into ruins.
14So be sad, you trading ships,
because your strong city is destroyed.
15At that time people will forget about Tyre for seventy years, which is the length of a king’s life. After seventy years, Tyre will be like the prostitute in this song:
16“Oh woman, you are forgotten.
Take your harp and walk through the city.
Play your harp well. Sing your song often.
Then people will remember you.”
17After seventy years the Lord will deal with Tyre, and it will again have trade. It will be like a prostitute for all the nations of the earth. 18The profits will be saved for the Lord. Tyre will not keep the money she earns but will give them to the people who serve the Lord, so they will have plenty of food and nice clothes.
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Isaiah 23: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 23
23
XXIII
1THE ORACLE CONCERNING TYRE.
Howl, ye ships of Tarshish,
For she is laid waste; so that there is no house, no entering in:
From the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.
2Be silent, ye inhabitants of the sea-coast:
Thou whom the merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, crowded.
3And upon the mighty waters the seed of Sihor,
The harvest of the river, was her revenue;
And she was the mart of nations.
4Be thou ashamed, O Zidon; for the sea hath spoken.
Even the fortress of the sea, saying:
I have travailed not, nor brought forth children;
Neither have I nourished youths, nor reared up virgins.
5When the tidings shall reach Egypt,
They shall be seized with anguish at the tidings of Tyre.
6Pass ye over to Tarshish;
Howl, ye inhabitants of the sea-coast!
7Is this your joyous city;
Whose antiquity is of ancient days?
Her own feet bear her far away to sojourn.
8Who hath purposed this against Tyre, the dispenser of crowns;
Whose merchants are princes,
Her traders the honourable of the earth!
9 Jehovah of hosts hath purposed it,
To defile the pride of all beauty;
To bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth,
10Pass through thy land, like the river, O daughter of Tarshish!
There is now no defence left
11He hath stretched his hand over the sea,
He hath caused the kingdoms to tremble:
Jehovah hath issued a command concerning Canaan,
To destroy her strong holds.
12And he hath said: Thou shalt no more rejoice,
O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon:
Arise, pass over to Chittim; even there thou shalt have no rest.
13Behold the land of the Chaldeans!
This people was not,
Till the Assyrian founded it for the inhabitants of the desert.
They have raised their watch-towers,
They have demolished the palaces thereof;
Reduced her to a ruin.
14Howl, ye ships of Tarshish:
For your strong hold is destroyed.
15And it shall come to pass in that day,
That Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years,
According to the days of one king:
At the end of seventy years,
There shall be unto Tyre as it were the song of an harlot.
16Take an harp, go about the city,
Thou harlot that hast been forgotten;
Touch skilfully the strings, sing many songs, that thou mayest again be remembered.
17And it shall come to pass at the end of seventy years, That Jehovah will visit Tyre,
And she shall return to her hire;
And she shall play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world,
That are upon the face of the earth.
18But her merchandise and her hire shall be holy to Jehovah:
It shall not be treasured up, nor shall it be kept in store;
For her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before Jehovah,
To eat sufficiently; and for beautiful clothing.
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.